Houston's Own
Kenny Rogers is a real estate gambler: Country star dupes auction vulturesseeking his mansion
At 73, Houston-born Kenny Rogers has an impressive history beyond his half-century career as a country music singer-songwriter, with accolades in photography, acting, music production and entrepreneurial affairs.
And now the lucky guy has $2.25 million in his pocket, after selling his home in Jackson County, Ga. — but not without making a dozen potential buyers mad by leaving them hanging at the auction block.
The Athens-Banner Herald is reporting that Rogers decided, unexpectedly, to take his property — a 150 acre plot with a five-bedroom, 5,681-square-foot house, a 2,675-square-foot pool, an eight-acre lake, horse riding trails, go-cart track and other amenities — off of the market on Tuesday afternoon, less than a day before an anticipated auction that drew high-rolling bidders from as far as North Carolina.
The auction, which was to be conducted by Grand Estates Auction Company, was advertised as an absolute auction with no minimum bid. Rogers, who frequently builds then sells his homes, once described the estate as "kind of like Disneyland with animals."